Tubular woven fabric



June 7, 1938. J, w- STARK 2,119,893

TUBULAR WOVEN FABRIC Filed Feb. 27, 1937 Figuzg,

INVENTR JOSEPH W. THRK, Fl g Z La ATTORNEY Patented June 7, 1938 AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to tubular woven fabrics.

One object of the invention is toA provide a woven tubular fabric whichmay be composed entirely of textile yarn and yet be elastic in itslongitudinal direction. Fabrics of this character, while useful forother purposes, are intended primarily for use as shoulder strapswhereby the latter may stretch to a limited extent as may be required inaccordance with certain movements of the Wearers body.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a tubular wovenfabric constructed in such manner as to prevent what is known as rollingof the fabric, i. e., relative movement of Wall portions of the fabricin a transverse direction. This feature of the invention is ofconsiderable advantage in tubular fabrics such as ribbons used forshoulder straps, as it eliminates twisting or folding of the fabric dueto rolling and maintains the ribbon inflat condition. While this featureis particularly advantageous in connection with tubular fabrics whichare longitudinally elastic as referred to above, it is also ofconsiderable value generally in tubular fabrics, whether or not suchfabrics are elastic.

'Ihe above objects of the invention and other objects which mighthereinafter appear will be fully understood from the followingdescription considered with reference to the accompanying drawingforming a part of the present specification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a length of tubular fabr ric made in accordancewith one form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view on a greatly enlarged scale of a part of thefabric shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a plan View on an enlarged scale of a strip of tubular fabricmade in accordance with another form of this invention;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 'l is a fragmentary plan View on a greatly enlarged scale of aportion of the fabric shown in Fig. 4 for approximately one-half of thewidth thereof;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan View illustrating more or lessdiagrammatically the relation between the weft and some of the Warpthreads of the fabric for preventing rolling thereof;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on the line 9-'9 yof Fig. 8.

'I'he tubular woven elastic fabric, made in accordance with the presentinvention, is preferably so constructed as` to derive its elasticitysolely by reason of the Warp threads of the fabric combined with thetubular structure of the latter. More specifically, the Warp threadsdesigned to impart elasticity to the tubular fabric are composed ofstrands of textile yarn twisted sufhciently to produce a crepe fabricwhen woven with the weft thereof, as in the manufacture of flat crepefabric. Flat crepe fabrics, although possessing some longitudinalelasticity, offer substantially no advantage over `ordinary inelastic vfabric for shoulder straps of ribbons and other narrow fabrics becausethe elasticity is not uniform throughout the fabric width, as theselvage edges of the fabric render the lon-gitudinal marginal edgeportions of the fabric substantially inelastic, unless said selvageedges are very loosely woven in which case the fabric is undesirablebecause of the loose Weave. These objectionable characteristics of flatcrepe fabric are eliminated in accordance with the present invention asthe tubular crepe fabric embodying the principles of vthis inventionbeing devoid of selvage edges possesses uniform longitudinal elasticitythroughout the width thereof.

As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, the fabric I0 made in accordance withone form of the invention, is woven in tubular form in any well knownmanner to produce a transversely endless and lon-l gitudinallycontinuous fabric tube of indefinite length. 'I'he warp threads I2, asheretofore indicated, possess a degree of twist sufficiently high toproduce a crepe fabric when woven with the weft thread Il thereof. Thus,as illustrated in Fig. 3, when the fabric is woven and the tensionthereon is released, the warp threads I2 extend along zigzag lines inthe direction of the length of the fabric. Thepweft thread is preferablyabout two or three times as thick as each warp thread, and in the formof the invention here illustrated, comprises a continuous thread wovenwith said warp threads in a simple tubular weave. After the tubularfabric is formed it is preferably flattened so that it has theappearance of a flat ribbon.

In accordance with another form of the invention the tubular crepefabric is provided with means to prevent relative displacement of Wallportions of the tubular fabric in a transverse direction. The fabricthus constructed is illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7. As here shown, thetubuthe longitudinal center line of the fabric and in spaced relation tothe side edges of the fabric. The warp threads 26 are preferably thickerthan the warp threads 22 and need-v not be crepe-forming threads. GoodAresults have been obtained in the fabric made in accordance with thisform of the invention by` utilizing for the binding warp threads 26,threadsof substantially the same thickness or even slightly thicker thanthe weft thread 24. When the binding warp threads are utilized in anelastic fabric, such as the tubular woven crepe fabric illustrated, saidthreads are woven sufficiently loosely to permit stretching of thefabric.

Figs. 6, "i, and 8 illustrate the manner in which the binding warpthreads 26 are interwoven with the weft thread 24. As illustrated inthese figures of the drawing, a plurality of here shown as two, warpthreads 26 float over two transversely extending course of the weftthread and over one of such courses, alternately, on each side of thefabric and at opposite sides of thelongitudinal median line. Thus, whilethere are/four binding warp threads 26 adjacent each side of the fabric,only two of such warpl threads appear' in any one course on one surfaceof the fabric adjacent each side. This arrangement of the weft thread 24and the binding warp threads 26, is illustrated more or lessdiagrammatically, for the purpose of explanation, in Fig. 8 wherein itwill be observed that the weft thread 24 extends transversely of thefabric from one side edge of the fabric, indicated by the dotted line 28to the other similarly indicated side edge 30, and is interwoven withboth sets of said binding threads. Thus, beginning with the end 25 ofthe weft thread 24 it will be observed that said thread extends fromedge 28 to edge 30 on one surface of the fabric, in woven relation withthe binding warp threads, as well as with the other warp threads (notshown), is folded at 21 at edge `3D of thefabric and is interwoven withboth sets of said warp threads on the other fabric surface extending inoverlying relation to the first mentioned side of the fabric where it isfolded upon itself, at 29 and offset in a direction longitudinally ofthe fabric, as indicated at 3l, for engagement with the warp thread inthe next course of the fabric in which course the weft thread extends tothe side edge 30 and is again doubled upon itself in the manner justdescribed, and so on for the full fabric length.

In view of the present disclosure, it is apparent that the severalfabrics herein shown and described are well adapted to accomplish theobjects of the present invention. It will be observed that the fabricillustrated in Fig. 4 embodies both the elastic feature and the rollpreventing feature of the present invention, but it is to be understoodthat while a fabric having both of these features is preferred, it iswithin the scope of the invention as a whole to provide a fabric havingbut one of these features. For example where an all textile fabric ofuniform longitudinally elasticity is desired, the fabric shown in eitherFig. 1 or Fig. 4 may be ernployed. Where a fabric having both theelasticity and non-rolling feature is desired, the fabric illustrated inFig. 4 may be supplied. Further, where a tubular fabric having only thev-nonrolling feature without the elastic feature is desired, the weaveillustrated in Figs. 4 to 9 may be utilized with other warp threadssubsttuted .for the crepe-forming warp threads 22. In other words anordinary inelastic tubular fab- .ric may be provided with the interwovenbinding l warp threads 26 to prevent rolling of the fabric.

Instead of the two sets of binding warp threads at opposite sides of thelongitudinal center line of the ribbon, only one set of such threads maybe used and in that case may be disposed preferably along thelongitudinal median line of the fabric, Other changes and modificationsmay be warp threads woven with said weft thread in tubular formation,said warp threads being highly twisted whereby the fabric possessessubstantial elasticity uniformly `of the fabric throughout its extent atthe edges of the fabric as well as at its intermediate portion, andadditional thicker non-crep-ing warp threads interwoven with and floatedover a plurality of weft thread portions of both courses of said weftthread inwardly of each selvedge edge to bind the opposite layers of thetubular fabric together to prevent relative displacement of said layers.

2. A tubularly woven ribbon or similar narrow fabric consisting of alongitudinally continuous fabric tube of indefinite length consisting ofa textile weft thread and crepe-forming textile warp threads woven withsaid weft thread in tubular formation, said warp threads being highlytwisted whereby the fabric possesses substantial elasticity uniformly ofthe fabric throughout its extent at the edges of the fabric as well asat its intermediate portion, and additional noncreping warp threadsinterwoven with and floated over a pluralityof weft thread portions ofboth courses of said weft thread inwardly of each selvedge edge to bindthe opposite layers of the tubular fabric together to prevent relativedisplacement of said layers.

JOSEPH W. STARK.

